


Unsolved

by aderyn



Series: Compounds or Stars [21]
Category: Sherlock (TV)
Genre: 221b, Gen, people want to know you're human
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-03-09
Updated: 2012-03-09
Packaged: 2017-11-01 16:39:09
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 237
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/359020
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aderyn/pseuds/aderyn
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"The ones they don't solve pile up, which means *they* pile up, pile on, corded one against the other no matter where they might be standing... </p>
<p>'Don't tell them about the unsolved ones,' Sherlock says."</p>
<p>They were born for they signify.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Unsolved

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to [greenjudy](http://archiveofourown.org/users/greenjudy/pseuds/greenjudy), for making me think about boundary conditions!

_“The idea, for example, that each particular erases_

_the luminous clarity of a general idea.” –Robert Hass, “Meditation at Lagunitas_ ”

 

The ones they don't solve pile up, which means _they_ pile up, pile on, corded one against the other no matter where they might be standing.  
  
“You're breathing on my shoulder,” says John.  
  
“Don't tell them about the unsolved ones,” Sherlock says.  
  
***  
  
They could solve for the coefficient of _x_ , but they don't. They could propose an array of turbulence modeling, but they don't. They could seek a solution for the differential equation with this particular boundary condition, but they don't. Because the satisfaction of the solution might be 25% less satisfying than the satisfaction of not solving. Or not.  
  


***

“People want to know you're human,” says John.

“Am I,” says Sherlock.

“I have a lot of words for you,” John says.

 Because about the borderlands of language he is, not shockingly, rather brave.

***

They could test the borders of their linguistic competence, but they don’t.

They could switch their codes, break, square off, stop, blink, fix their lexical selection—

“I need a case,” Sherlock says.

They were born for they signify.

***

“Why would you care,” says Sherlock. (what other people think.)

Because love is vicious, sentiment a defect and caring not an advantage, but that's just one adjective, one verb, one adverb, two articles, two conjunctions, and five nouns.  And only one of those is binding.

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Not in the Finding but in the Searching](https://archiveofourown.org/works/359519) by [whitefang (radialarch)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/radialarch/pseuds/whitefang)




End file.
